Market research is the application of opinion surveys and data collection that are systematically gathered and interpreted to utilize information about individuals and/or organizations to gain insight, including insight into one's decision making propensity, behaviors, or beliefs. That insight is valuable information and useful data for statistical and analytical methods to aid organizations in making decisions to conduct business. During the first generation of market research, surveys were conducted by going door-to-door collection methods. For the second generation, surveys were generally conducted by postal mail. Then, the third and fourth generations of surveys were conducted via the telephone and Internet, respectively.